HOLDING UP "L'ÉGALITÉ"
ARNOLD CARDYKE was the first to recover from the effect of the
noxious vapour. He had been sleeping nearest to the entrance to the
conning-tower, and had thus more air than his companions. For some
moments he lay wondering where he was. He tried to call out, but no
sound came from his parched lips. Then, between him and the reddish
light that seemed to encircle him, came a huge dark object that
presently resolved itself into the shape of a man--one of the pirate
officers. Good heavens! The partial truth swept across his mind.
Desperately he struggled to rise and arouse his comrades, but
realising that he was bound and weak, he rolled helplessly across the
body of Hokosuka.
The weight of the mid.'s frame expelled a quantity of the chloroform
fumes from the Japanese's chest, and with a grunt Hokosuka opened his
eyes. In his effort to dislodge Cardyke the Asiatic prodded Fielding
on the back, and the sub., already well on the road to consciousness,
also began to realise his position.
"What's wrong, Cardyke?" he asked. "Why, I----" Then the truth was
revealed in all its unpleasantness. He and his comrades were once
more in the power of Juan Cervillo and his piratical crew.
"We've made a mess of it, sir," said Cardyke, who contrived to raise
himself into a sitting posture.
"And all my fault," groaned the sub. "I fell asleep at my post. I
ought to be----"
"We were drugged, or something like that," interrupted the mid. "I
can't see that any blame can be attached to you. What's done cannot
be helped, although it may be undone, in spite of the proverb."
Fielding sat up, and found that his ankles and wrists were secured by
leather straps. His head seemed to spin round like a top for a few
moments, but gradually the sensation of nausea left him. It did not
take him long to discover that the _Independencia_ had altered her
course. By the position of the sun the sub. concluded that the
direction in which she was heading was approximately N.W. by N. As
far as he could command the horizon there were no other ships in
sight--only a vast expanse of Atlantic rollers.
"Here comes that scoundrel," exclaimed Cardyke, and turning his head
Fielding saw Juan Cervillo approaching.
The Spaniard, who never could boast of good looks, had his appearance
somewhat disfigured from the result of the blow he had received in
the sortie from the conning-tower, while his greasy features were
sallow from the effects of the chloroform which he had inhaled.
With a supercilious grin Juan Cervillo stood in front of his
prostrate captives, gloating over their plight. He could, he
imagined, subject them to indignity with impunity now, but he had yet
to learn caution.
Mukyima was stealthily regarding the Spaniard out of the corners of
his narrow eyes. Slowly the lithe body and limbs of the Japanese
contracted. Then like a stone from a catapult, Mukyima, bound as he
was, hurled himself upon his foe.
Juan Cervillo saw the human thunderbolt flying towards him just in
the nick of time. He gave a hurried leap aside, caught his foot in a
ring-bolt, and subsided in a most undignified manner upon a
particularly aggressive fairlead. As for the Japanese, he had taken
the precaution of tucking his head well forward. His shoulders came
in contact with a canvas "storm-dodger," and, rebounding, he, too,
flopped on the deck.
Juan Cervillo did not wait for a second spring from the wiry Jap, but
regaining his feet rushed away shouting for assistance. Half-a-dozen
of the strongest of the pirate crew had a tough struggle ere they
overpowered Mukyima; but they did it at length, lashing the Asiatic
to a capstan-bar so that he was as helpless as a log.
"Me teach you!" hissed the pirate captain. "You dogs!--when I done,
den ober de side I put you!"
Turning to his men he gave a lengthy order. Mukyima was borne away
for'ard, the other captives, including the coxswain, were
unceremoniously bundled below, and placed in the same cabin from
which they had before escaped.
It did not take the sub. and his comrades long to free themselves of
the straps that bound them. Fielding's first act, in recovering the
use of his limbs, was to hasten to the scuttle. The pirates had taken
due precautions this time. The glass had been removed, and a massive
iron bar, placed across the frame of the scuttle, was secured by
means of the lock-nut, the thread of which had been bent and burred
so that it was impossible, without the aid of a file or hack-saw, to
remove the bar from its position.
"Well, we can look out, and see what's going on; that's one comfort,"
exclaimed Fielding, optimistically. "What have you found, Cardyke?"
For the midshipman, rummaging in a locker, had discovered a loaf of
bread, some ship's biscuits, a jar of water, and a tin pannikin.
"We won't starve just yet, in any case," observed the mid.
The pangs of hunger had rounded off the unappetising appearance of
the stale loaf and the "hard tack," and the water, though not
particularly fresh, tasted sweet to the parched mouths of the
hostages.
"Poison?" asked Oki, interrogatively.
"I think not," replied Fielding. "If they wanted to choke us off they
would have done so before now; besides, the food doesn't look
tempting enough. A sumptuous repast would be more suspicious."
About four o'clock the cruiser eased down. Knowing that something was
about to happen, the captives took turns at looking through the
scuttle. For some time nothing beyond sky and sea was visible, but
when the _Independencia_ described a half circle Cardyke announced
that she had compelled a huge liner to heave-to.
"A Frenchman, by Jove!" exclaimed Fielding. "Now what's the
game--more scuttling?"
The transatlantic liner's decks were crowded with passengers, who
were regarding the cruiser with the greatest interest, for the
_Independencia_ had hoisted the white ensign, and with their faith in
the _entente cordiale_, the Frenchmen never for one moment harboured
any suspicion.
Suddenly a four-pounder boomed out, and a shell hissed betwixt the
huge funnels of _L'Égalité_. Like a crowd of startled rabbits, the
passengers rushed pell-mell for the companion ladders. Had war
suddenly broken out between Great Britain and France? They were not
long left in doubt. As soon as the liner came to a standstill, two
boats were lowered from the cruiser. Into them tumbled fifty men, all
armed to the teeth.
"_Ciel!_" gasped the astounded French captain. "They are not John
Bull's bluejackets. They are pirates."
His worst suspicions were confirmed when the white ensign was struck
and a red flag hoisted in its place, while slowly the 'midships
barbette on the starboard side, actuated by manual power, was turned
till its pair of 12 in. guns were trained upon the luckless liner.
The French captain did not know that the huge weapons were without
breech-blocks, but the frowning muzzles were far more terrifying to
him than the quick-firers. Unresistingly he allowed the boats to come
alongside, and the lawless mob to swarm over the liner's lofty sides.
The pirates went about their work in a systematic manner. Four of
them went straight to the wireless-room, and interrupting an urgent
call for aid, drove out the operators, and put the delicate mechanism
out of action. Others, making the captain prisoner, and driving the
rest of the officers into the smoking-room, compelled the former to
send for the ship's papers. The whole of the specie and bullion was
transferred to the boats, together with the wealthiest and most
influential of the passengers. This done the terrified first and
second-class passengers were made to hand over their money and
jewellery, the steerage being left unmolested.
Very little resistance was shown by the passengers. An American
millionaire who had made a pile in Nevada, promptly whipped out a
six-shooter, vowing he'd send the cowardly Dagoes to blazes. He was
quick and deadly with his pistol, and four of the pirates pitched
forward on the floor of the saloon; but one man against a score was
too long odds, and the tough old backwoodsman fell riddled with
bullets.
Having taken all the bullion and specie, together with the hostages,
to the _Independencia_, the pirates proceeded to cripple the engines,
leaving the liner helpless in the Atlantic. But they had not done
with their prize, for directly the two boats returned to the cruiser
Juan Cervillo ordered _L'Égalité_ to hoist out her own boats, fill
them with provisions and stores, and bring them alongside the
_Independencia_. Under a threat that the liner would be sunk if the
demand were not complied with, the captain of _L'Égalité_ hastened to
carry out Cervillo's order.
Two hours later, with her store-rooms filled to their utmost
capacity, and nearly a million and a quarter pounds' worth of
additional booty in her strong-room, the _Independencia_ bade an
ironical farewell to the helpless liner.
From their place of confinement Fielding and his companions had
watched the work of plunder and wanton destruction. They had seen the
easy way by which the cruiser had replenished her stores, and the
continuation of the policy of bringing off hostages to the ship in
order to prevent any punitive vessel from firing at the modern
buccaneer.
Cardyke turned to the sub.
"This can't go on for long," he remarked. "What will the end be?"
"Goodness only knows," rejoined Fielding; "but we've a tough time
before us!"